I am glad that beltran homered and we are up 3-0, but i just found out that church is back on the disabled list. again. for migraines that they don't know were related. migraines he suffered on the first day he came back from his previous, mishandled injury, which has already cost him 2 consecutive trips to the DL, this being his third. they said they are using the all-star break to let him get some rest while freeing up a roster spot (for nick evans, who's been tearing it up in the minors again) so he can return shortly after the break only having missed 6 games or so. it's good logic, but is it possible that just for once this team could stay healthy? seriously, right now, not counting the injuries we've had earlier in the year, we have matt wise, orlando hernandez, luis castillo, moises alou, ryan church, trot nixon and angel pagan all on the DL. and it;s not like these are breif injuries either; el duque has been out all season, and so has wise. church is entering his third consecutive DL stint, pagan has been out for 2 months, and i would be suprised if alou has played in 20 games all season. pedro was out for a month and a half, and schneider and castro have each been on the 15 day DL at least once. reyes, wright, beltran, and delgado are the only of our opening day starters who have not been out for a considerable amount of time this year, and even some of their backups have been hurt. i am not giving our team's performance any excuses, and some injuries are to be expected, but it wasn't exactly in our gameplan when we started the season to be starting the likes of fernando tatis, marlon anderson, endy chavez, and trot nixon on a regular basis. hopefully our corner outfeilders, especially church, can pull it together and the rest of our starters and pitchers can stay relatively healthy, so that we can have the players we are paying 140 million dollrs for on the feild.

btw rob, i like this new series-by-series blog layout. it gives a nice forum to comment on the games as we watch them and throw in some other topics as they arise, and i think you will get more people to post if you keep creating series discussions.

one more thing i thought i'd throw out there...with alou constantly being injured, and with some people saying church will be out for the majority of the year with his pesty head issues, and with nixon on the DL, and with pagan probably out for the year, we are desperate for corner outfeilders. some people have suggested that barry bonds would fit nicely here. in the begginning of the year, when we had alou and church hitting .340, the barry bonds headache was the last thing i thought we needed. but considering our plight at corner OF, and how we are tightly in contention for the division, and how our lineup lacks power, bonds could be just what we need. i have never really liked the man, i do think he juiced, and he does have legal and media trouble, but the boot fits and the man can still get it done. any sane football fan would love to have TO on his team, even if he is a jerk. considering we have the money and we won't need to give anything for him since he is a free agent, what are everyone's thoughts about acquiring bonds?

Damn, I hope so! Really nice win last night. The Mets beat one of the top young starters in the league by putting forth a guy who may soon be considered the top young starter in Mike Pelfrey. Mike pitched great last night and has shown that he can be dominant at the major league level.

Carlo Beltran knocked a 3-run homer and is showing signs that he may be returning to All-Star form. It wouldn't be a moment too soon considering the problems that the Mets have with outfield injuries.

The Giants are not a good team but I'm hopeful that these wins can help to build momentum that turns this team around. The news that Ryan Church is returning to the DL put a bit of a damper on the win, but all we can do is move forward with the team that is on the field.

There was a nice article on the BBTN summary on ESPN discussing Bonds and the Mets. The merits are that Bonds could be spelled by Endy Chavez and could provide power/speed. The writer made the point that Bonds would get all the attention which would allow the rest of the team to just play... I am not sure I buy that. He would definitely mess with the chemistry that is in place.

I know the Rockies are potentially making Holliday available but I don:t think we have what it takes to get him. Ultimately, I trust Omar to work all the GM's relentlessly to get that gem that no one was thinking about. Seriously, who was thinking about Ryan Church before the trade was announced.

Nonetheless, I think after today's win we are officially back on track. We need to finish strong becuse good teams beat the middling ones on a regular basis.

Wow. Johan Santana pitches well. The Mets provide plenty of offensive support. Aaron Heilman pitches effectively. No "almost lose the game" drama at the end. The team stayed solid even after a 45 minute rain delay. Things are looking up for this team.

Five days agod we were 5.5 games back in the east, people were calling for lots of players to be traded, we were 2 games under .500, and we had just lost a heartbreaking game to the phillies and had little momentum. now we're 1.5 games back, have tons of momentum, our team is firing on all cylinders, and we're 3 games over .500. if we can close out this week strong heading into the all-star break, perhaos by winning like 3 of our final 4 games, we will have plenty of momentum heading into the symbolic second half of the season (even though if you do the math we are 10 games past the midway mark).

This is just the kind of run I've been hoping for all season. I wish John Maine would have been more solid but it's a good win nonetheless. Mets pitchers seem to go through cycles of good and bad performance. Oliver Perez stunk for a few starts but he's been much better of late. Mike Pelfrey has had a similar roller coaster ride. So hopefully John will be able to work his way out of the funk.

...and he's not telling. I just saw the his post game interview. He's definately not happy and I understand that he's kinda of a "perfectionist". However, I just don't know if the problem is the "dead arm" syndrome that afflicted him last year or something to do with some kind of muscle injury. Hopefully, the all-star rest is just what he needs to clear his head and get him ready for a 2nd half stretch run.

7 straight! this is awesome. another great outing by olly, some good, clutch bullpen work, and a late game clutch homer by easley. with the phillies game still pending, (5-5 in the bottom of the ninth) the mets could potentially move to LESS THATN 1 GAME BEHIND FIRST PLACE! with the way this season has gone, with all the close losses and distractions and randolphs firing and the discombobulated, depressed cloud we have had over our heads since very early on, we should be thanking our lucky stars that we are in a position to either have or be near having the lead in the division heading into the break. especially when we were down by 5.5 games a week ago! we have the ability to stare down the second half refreshed, with momentum, and a clean slate from the nightmares of the early months, not having to play catchup. as a packers fan, i am in a very mixed mood after favre's very unfortunate (but exciting if we are able to take him back) request today, but i am very happy with the mets situation the place we are in right now.